It’s said that if you want to change the way your local government operates, run for office. Most of us prefer to kvetch from the sidelines, so kudos to anyone willing to jump up and try to make things better by holding office. Keyboard warriors, and I don’t exclude myself from that designation, can burn up the interwebs with criticisms of this that or the other if we take a disfavorable view of something, filling up our timelines on Facebook and Instagram (am I aging myself with only listing those two?). It’s easy and quick. Tappity tap tap, click on ‘send’, and it’s done. “Oh, did I say that a week ago? I don’t even remember what I was on about!”
It’s a big step to run for city council. It’s often a thankless job, and will get you chastised, sometimes politely, but sometimes not, for things that are often not within your power to change. It comes with the territory. The old adage “if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen” really applies to local government. And, while I’m at it, since you asked for the job, you really shouldn’t chastise the public for being on about whatever they’re on about right now. A couple of city councilmen got called out recently for their perceived poor behavior while on the dais during public comments. Much of what was directed at the council was valid. I hope those it was directed at take it to heart, and behave a bit more respectfully in the future.
Anyway, I said all that to talk about the following:
If you’re going to run for public office, don’t be like Trump was/is, and not have a clue about the job.
Recently, I was speaking with a candidate for one of the seats up for election this cycle here in Visalia. His talking points were not accurate.
He was complaining about the city council raising taxes, specifically property taxes, and utility fees. When I asked about it, he was certain in his position that the city council was raising taxes. I was a bit confused, because I could not recall any taxes on my property tax bills that could be layed at the feet of the Visalia City Council. When I followed up with him about what taxes he was talking about, I did not get a real explanation.
I asked him about utility fees, sewer and trash, he said they have been climbing, as well. Again, I could not recall any hikes on my bills, so I asked him for clarification. He basically backed down a bit and said he was going on what his father told him, because he lived on property owned by his parents.
Well, that conversation was not very enlightening, and frankly, based on conversations I’ve either briefly had with him, or on comments he’s made during public commentary sections of City Council meetings, and things he’s posted online, I was left wondering what the facts were.
So I grabbed my property tax bills for the past five years, and had a look.
At the top of the list, the county’s 1% tax on net value led the way. After that, various other taxes were listed:
Visalia Unified School District for a bond in 2012
Kaweah Delta water district
Kaweah Delta hospital
College of the Sequoias
Visalia Unified School District for a bond in 2018
Delta Mosquito control
Hmmmm. Nothing about the City of Visalia listed for any of the five years.
In those five years, my County property tax bill has increased by $105.12. That increase has been driven solely by the Proposition 13 limited increase in my home’s value.
Now, the sewer and trash bill might have gone up a few dollars over the years, but it seems to me it’s been pretty stable. I’ve not noticed any changes of more than a few dollars, which really is to be expected. Other fees and costs that city might impose for various services are not what the conversation was about, so I’m not going to comment on whether it’s valid to include them.
So, what’s that all mean? By all means run for office if you want to serve, and/or make a change. But do some research first, and make your run with something that will improve the community.
I’m not in this person’s district, so I wouldn’t be able to vote for or against him regardless, but after each interaction with him, I’m more certain he’s not a better fit than the person already serving in that seat.
But it must be so, because several people at tonight’s Visalia City Council meeting made sure to speak out against a proposed move by the local Planned Parenthood facility, to a larger building, by telling us that the organization worshipped Satan.
The agenda item was postponed to next month, and plenty of notice of the change was given, but several people stepped up during public comments to vent their spleens. Most of them didn’t realize that Planned Parenthood has been in Visalia for years, and spoke against allowing the medical service “in our city”. Several of them made the “Satan worship” claim during their spiels.
The debunked video of Planned Parenthood selling body parts was also referenced. That woman was very incensed over the notion that we’d let anything like that into our city. (again, they’ve been here for years, this is just about getting approval to move into a larger building.)
The next meeting scheduled to deal with this request, in March, promises to be a maelstrom of anti-abortion nonsense and vitriol. The City has moved the meeting to the Convention Center in anticipation of the crowds.
I’ll be giving an update to the Council on Saturday’s Pride Visalia Festival, our recent expansion, and winning our category in the annual Give OUT Day fundraiser.
Since the city changed the rules after our 2012 and 2013 proclamations naming June LGBT Pride Month in Visalia, I won’t be asking for or receiving anything, but I will take the opportunity to bring the Council up to date on our recent achievements. Our expansion gives us much needed space, as our (already expanded once) center continues to grow.
There’s a ton of stuff that I’d like to tell the council about, but the comments are limited to three minutes, so I’ll just have to do a quick review of this year, and invite the Council and the public to Pride Visalia 2019.
You can attend the Council meeting at City Hall West, 707 W. Acequia, Visalia. The meeting starts at 7pm. You can also watch on Facebook Live, on the city’s Facebook feed.
Well, no, it’s not. Not even close. Gabriel Jacquez spoke at the public comments section of the May 21, 2018 Visalia City Council meeting, and took the city to task for allowing our event, Pride Visalia, to take place. During his comments, he drew a really strange connection between drag queens dancing and child porn. Listen to the recording above to see if you can follow his… “logic”. I can’t.
Immediately following his remarks are mine, given a few minutes after his. I had planned on simply giving a short presentation to the Council about Pride Visalia, and then invite them to attend.
That got thrown out the window after I heard his remarks. I tried to address Mr. Jacquez’s remarks as best I could, without turning my three minutes into a complete mish-mash.
I’m glad it worked out the way it did, it would have been unfortunate had I gone first, and then Mr. Jacquez following. In that scenario, I would not have been able to respond.
Sorry for the poor quality of the image. That’s me, at the podium, in the upper right hand corner of the image. It’s a screen capture of a phone video, which was recording a video feed that was playing on yet another phone. A copy of a copy of a copy of a copy.
Sorry that the audio quality is not the best, either. It’s also a copy of a copy, especially that last few seconds.
You can hear the (almost) complete audio at the article by the Visalia Times Delta, here. My comments are attached to the video at the top of the article, Mr. Jacquez’s in the video further down the page. At some point in the future, the City of Visalia should have an audio recording of the meeting, with the full comments. (only a few seconds have been cut, however. Mostly us introducing ourselves, and possibly a bit at the end of Mr. Jacquez’s remarks.)
All in all, a most upsetting Council meeting for me.
Random thoughts, occasional rants, illuminating commentary, and an odd story now and then from the world of 9-1-1 dispatching. All this and more from a gay liberal atheist living in California’s Bible belt. I recently married, so MAGA beware! I’m your worst nightmare! Some names have been omitted to protect the innocent, but the guilty will be hung out to dry!
Run, Forrest, Run!
September 2, 2024
Jim Reeves commentary property tax, running for office in Visalia, visalia, Visalia City Council Leave a comment
It’s said that if you want to change the way your local government operates, run for office. Most of us prefer to kvetch from the sidelines, so kudos to anyone willing to jump up and try to make things better by holding office. Keyboard warriors, and I don’t exclude myself from that designation, can burn up the interwebs with criticisms of this that or the other if we take a disfavorable view of something, filling up our timelines on Facebook and Instagram (am I aging myself with only listing those two?). It’s easy and quick. Tappity tap tap, click on ‘send’, and it’s done. “Oh, did I say that a week ago? I don’t even remember what I was on about!”
It’s a big step to run for city council. It’s often a thankless job, and will get you chastised, sometimes politely, but sometimes not, for things that are often not within your power to change. It comes with the territory. The old adage “if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen” really applies to local government. And, while I’m at it, since you asked for the job, you really shouldn’t chastise the public for being on about whatever they’re on about right now. A couple of city councilmen got called out recently for their perceived poor behavior while on the dais during public comments. Much of what was directed at the council was valid. I hope those it was directed at take it to heart, and behave a bit more respectfully in the future.
Anyway, I said all that to talk about the following:
If you’re going to run for public office, don’t be like Trump was/is, and not have a clue about the job.
Recently, I was speaking with a candidate for one of the seats up for election this cycle here in Visalia. His talking points were not accurate.
He was complaining about the city council raising taxes, specifically property taxes, and utility fees. When I asked about it, he was certain in his position that the city council was raising taxes. I was a bit confused, because I could not recall any taxes on my property tax bills that could be layed at the feet of the Visalia City Council. When I followed up with him about what taxes he was talking about, I did not get a real explanation.
I asked him about utility fees, sewer and trash, he said they have been climbing, as well. Again, I could not recall any hikes on my bills, so I asked him for clarification. He basically backed down a bit and said he was going on what his father told him, because he lived on property owned by his parents.
Well, that conversation was not very enlightening, and frankly, based on conversations I’ve either briefly had with him, or on comments he’s made during public commentary sections of City Council meetings, and things he’s posted online, I was left wondering what the facts were.
So I grabbed my property tax bills for the past five years, and had a look.
At the top of the list, the county’s 1% tax on net value led the way. After that, various other taxes were listed:
Visalia Unified School District for a bond in 2012
Kaweah Delta water district
Kaweah Delta hospital
College of the Sequoias
Visalia Unified School District for a bond in 2018
Delta Mosquito control
Hmmmm. Nothing about the City of Visalia listed for any of the five years.
In those five years, my County property tax bill has increased by $105.12. That increase has been driven solely by the Proposition 13 limited increase in my home’s value.
Now, the sewer and trash bill might have gone up a few dollars over the years, but it seems to me it’s been pretty stable. I’ve not noticed any changes of more than a few dollars, which really is to be expected. Other fees and costs that city might impose for various services are not what the conversation was about, so I’m not going to comment on whether it’s valid to include them.
So, what’s that all mean? By all means run for office if you want to serve, and/or make a change. But do some research first, and make your run with something that will improve the community.
I’m not in this person’s district, so I wouldn’t be able to vote for or against him regardless, but after each interaction with him, I’m more certain he’s not a better fit than the person already serving in that seat.
Remember to vote, and to check you voter registration status soon!
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